Building a new construction career locally

John A. MacInnes

140 students from six of East Renfrewshire’s high schools were given the opportunity to build towards a bright future in the construction industry as part of a unique careers event.

Organised as part of the £1.13bn Glasgow City Region City Deal, the event brought together students and potential employers, showcasing the vast variety of career pathways in the construction business.

Held in St Luke’s High School in Barrhead, S4, S5 and S6 students enjoyed a series of workshops in Civil Engineering, Planning, Project and Cost Management and Urban Design - hosted by consultants Aecom, Barton Willmore, Currie & Brown, Gleeds, Holmes Miller, Ironside Farrar and Mott MacDonald, to showcase the vast variety of career options and pathways beyond traditional construction jobs.

Convener for infrastructure and sustainable growth Cllr Tony Buchanan, said: “Our £44 million Glasgow City Region City Deal investment is enabling a range of ambitious projects within East Renfrewshire. This event allowed us to highlight the early stage planning and urban design career path options in new and innovative ways.

“We were able to relate them to our local projects including the new visitor centre and wake-park at Dams to Darnley Country Park and the enhanced road network between Barrhead, Newton Mearns and the M77.

“We hope by showing the real-time, positive impact construction can have on student’s lives, careers and the community, it may help them to consider other possibilities when planning the next steps of their education.”

Katy Hope (16) from Mearns Castle High School said: “I’m planning to study architecture at Glasgow School of Art so I really enjoyed getting to speak to someone who has years of working as one. I had never considered the warrants and regulations involved in architecture so it was really good to learn about that.”

Jonathan Alison, (17) from Barrhead High School added: “It was good to think about job availability and career progression within an area that I live in. All the workshops were really good as well because you had the opportunity to hear about real-life scenarios and how things actually work in practice.”

The Glasgow City Region City Deal is a £1.13billion partnership between eight local authorities, the Scottish Government and the UK Government. It includes 26 projects, 20 of them major infrastructure schemes. These will drive economic growth across the City Region and create 15,000 construction jobs while work is underway and 28,000 jobs when work is finished.

East Renfrewshire’s £44 million City Deal investment is focused on six key projects, including enhancing the area’s road network, creating a business centre and transforming Dams to Darnley Country Park into a must-visit leisure destination.